O'Connor questioned as to where my comments on the death of a young boy at the Westfield Sportsman's Club Oct. 25 were.

Mr. O'Connor pointed out that I have always defended the ownership of guns by law abiding private citizens for sports, and to exercise their right to protect themselves and their families.

Does that make me a bad person?

Ron, whom I have known since he was a lad, questioned why I or other hunters failed to speak up. Well right above Mr. O'Connor's letter was one by Bill Hardie, of Russell, who has been a highly respected voice of sportsmen for decades.

I think Mr. Hardie made two excellent points. First, the young boy's death was a tragedy. He also pointed out that it was sad this happened at the Westfield Sportsman's Club, whose members for decades have helped boys and girls in need, and introduced them to a great variety of outdoor activities. Also tragic is the parents will pay the penalty as long as they live. I refuse to add my finger to those among us who chose to point.

Why didn't I answer immediately? I received information that I could very well be called in as an expert witness. The litigation has started, and I was not called.

So here goes:

For months and years, newspapers, TV, radio, posters - you name it - have advertised these fund-raising machine gun shoots aimed to benefit more kids. Add thousands of hours of volunteer work among club members.

My main question to Ron and Mr. O'Connor, is if you believed such shoots were a danger to children, why didn't you voice this opinion before the tragedy?

Mr. O'Connor did not indicate what made him a sportsman. Did he volunteer hours and hours to conservation, training kids, taking underprivileged kids under wing, seeking out land purchases for all, even anti-hunters, was his voice heard aloud among sportsmen and anti-sportsmen alike?

I will be more than happy to publish Mr. O'Connor's giving of his time and finances to the kids, the outdoors, to wildlife, and thank him for his efforts when this information is forthcoming.

Meanwhile, Mr. Hardie has helped kids in the outdoors for a lifetime, took action to benefit wildlife, fought for open land.

Here is another example of what a sportsman through and through truly is - Manny DaSilva continues into the 40-plus years of helping kids and adult by again promoting the Joseph Berkowixcz Memorial Free Fly Tying Classes sponsored by the The Republican, Western Mass Fly Fishermen and Ludlow Elks.

Manny and other volunteers give hours to the kids 8 and up, who are joined by their mothers and fathers, other beginners and some experts. More on this later.

It was also pointed out that hunters' numbers have been declining. Well yes this is true. There is something about the fact that few kids have a chance to enter outdoor sports, which are enjoyed forever, because approximately 50 percent are from broken homes.

Ron quotes Sports Illustrated on the decline in the number of hunters. This trend has been true for sometime. In part, broken homes certainly attributed to this, as did electronic games and such. But apparently Sports Illustrated is spending too much time on its bathing suit issue, as the latest reports is there has been a slight turn around as a result of more women joining the hunting field. And some are taking their children with them.

Then enter the indoors boy, soon to become the indoors man, who is taken over by electronic games, television, computers.

Are we turning into a generation that will look back and say, "Dad, remember when we use to sit side by side at our computers and talk to people we did not know?"

I prefer, "Grandpop, remember how we sat on that ledge, our feet dangling in space, after cooking up that Italian sausage on a stick, thinking about putting a big buck in the freezer, but not really caring. It was just the being there. I remember the a smell of the pine and fir far below, a chickadee landing on your hat that you nearly always put bread crumbs on, and the little bird doing a dance. Remember our being so on high leaving us feeling like we were relaxing in the sky?"